My writer history

That’s me in first grade – the boy – in the front row. There’s a story behind me and the mask for some future time. Seems to be an obsession with farm animals on the board.

I have been serious about writing for quite a while to say the least. I was staying after school in first grade to finish writing lessons, not because they were bad, but because I had things to say.

In fact, Miss Crone (I still think that’s a great name for a veteran first grade teacher.) told a friend’s mom that I showed signs of budding genius.  Sad when the highlight of your education happens in first grade.

It’s not in my nature to glorify, or lament, the past, but I owe quite a bit of who I am and what I do as a writer to the newspaper business.

My introduction into the world of work was a sixth- and seventh-grade Indianapolis Star paper route. My route was in a different neighborhood; so I would arise each morning and ride my bike loaded with papers a half mile or so before I even made my first delivery. Good work ethic building, especially at twenty degrees and snowing.

A number of years later, my introduction to the world of published writing came with a letter to the editor of the Lafayette Journal and Courier. I used that letter as the gateway to what became paid assignments from the J&C and the Purdue Exponent.

I will detail the rest of my writing career, at least as it exists so far, in the very near future.

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